Protection
by Hiei449
Summary: Schwartz are assigned a new job: protect their employers valuable necklace from the Jewel Thieves. Problems arise as an organization from their past comes back for the said thieves. So what is it they're to protect? The necklace or the thieves themselves?
1. Chapter 1

Ok, this is my first attempt at a Weiss Kruez fanfic, so be nice. I've always seen a few fanfics where the members of Weiss find women to love and all, but what about Schwartz? I mean, yeah they're supposed to be the bad guys of the show, but they're awesome bad guys. I think they deserve a chance as well, don't you?

Chapter 1

Lights blinked on and off with the beat of the music. The dance floor was crowded with people, some wearing black, the others showing off as much skin as possible without being arrested for public indecency. It was a new club in town, having just opened up about a week ago. It would've opened sooner, but they had to hire more people to fill the cages that hung from the ceiling above the scattered tables and dance floor.

Shuldig sighed as he set his drink down. This was his type of place. People all around just waiting to be fucked with. Their minds were wide open for the taking, weak and fuzzy with alcohol. It wasn't hard for him and Farfarello to get in. Just a small twist of the bouncer's memory and they were in. Currently, they both sat at the bar, watching the people as they danced, drank, and just acted like the idiotic creatures they were.

Farfarello's single eye scanning the people who say they tempt death but would really run at the sight of it. Death was anything but scary. Farfarello had seen more than one dead person, most of them he killed. Their blood has stained his hands more than once.

"Find something interesting?" Shuldig asked, looking at his amber eyed companion.

"Not really," Farfarello replied. There wasn't much that could interest him here. The cage dancers were a nice touch though. If only they were dancing with blood dripping down their bodies from multiple cuts and wounds. Farfarello smirked and raised his eyes toward the ceiling where the cages hung.

The people in them were a mix of both men and women, all made to look as erotic and tempting as possible while being out of arms' reach. Every once in a while, the cages would be raised to a catwalk at the top of the building, letting the tired dancers leave the cages, only to be replaced by a new one.

Farfarello's attention was turned to a cage that was being raised. The man inside was wearing a pair of black leather pants with no shirt in sight. His chest and back was covered in layer of hard earned sweat. He stepped out of the cage, letting the woman on the catwalk take his place.

Farfarello had to frown. While all the women in the cages looked more like sluts thinking they were sexy, this one seemed different as she stepped into the cage. The other women wore short shorts that left their asses hanging out. Their shirts were meant to show off their breasts like pieces of meat, have of them probably weren't even real and were too big for them.

The woman's cage was lowered, and she started to dance to the music, body moving like water. She was slim, yet strong, tight black leather pants clinging to her lean legs. Her arms were left bare by the black halter top, reveling strong arms that looked more fitted for snapping necks. Her black hair was cut quite short with longer strands in the front to hang over her closed eyes. Two sing, thin strand of hair hung in front of each multi-pierced ear. She was the only one up there who looked more sexy than sluty.

Farfarello couldn't take his eyes off her for some reason. It was strange. Usually when his eye caught someone, he had the urge to feel his hand dipped in their blood. He didn't have the same feeling with her. It was more like…he didn't know what the urge was. Like he wanted to run his hands all over her body, just to feel what it was like. But why? It didn't make sense.

"Something wrong?" Shuldig asked, noticing the difference in his companion's behavior. He had gone from complete boredom to interest. Something must've caught his eye.

"No. Found something is all," Farfarello replied, never taking his eye off the dancing woman.

Shuldig followed his gaze to the woman dancing in the cage. "Ah, so it seems you've found a new target."

"No. I don't feel like killing her for some reason," Farfarello said, not really caring how Shuldig would reply.

Shuldig just blinked at his companion. Since when did Farfarello not feel like killing someone? Usually he was all up for killing the first person that caught his eye. So why wasn't he going to kill this one. Was it because…

"Farfarello, has that girl caught your interest somehow?"

Farfarello thought about that question for a moment. Yes, the girl had caught his interest. How, he didn't know. Why, damned if he knew that either. He nodded, acknowledging the fact that the girl caught in interest in some way.

"Hm, I see," Shulig replied as he looked back at the woman. "Well, let's see what she's like." Shuldig took another sip of his drink, letting the alcohol burn its way down his throat as he watched the dancer. He gently probed into her mind, not wanting to let her know he was there nor wanting to harm her just yet.

Her mind was dark, images of the past all organized in her mind like a filing cabinet. It was similar to Farfarello's mind. While most people believed a mad man's mind to be disorganized and one tracked, it was actually very organized and neat, unlike another person's mind which would be an entire pile of memories and personality traits.

Her mind was somewhat disorganized, yet organized all the same. It was like throwing similar events into the same containers and then storing them away. He looked through some of her past events, making sure not to disrupt her state of mind. He found one image that caught his interest and decided to let it play.

It was one from her childhood. A small girl with jet black hair and eyes as red as blood was sitting in a dark closet, watching a scene play out from the small crack that was left in the door. Shuldig stood behind her as he watched the scene as well. The girl couldn't have been more than 8 years old.

The scene before them was of a man, who's face was shrouded in shadow, beating a woman with jet black hair and emerald green eyes in the kitchen. Beer bottles were piled high in the sink, a drinking problem. The woman's body was cut and bruised, signs of long term abuse.

By the time the man had stopped and walked out, the woman couldn't move from the floor, but the rise and fall of her chest showed signs of life. The small girl crawled out of the closet and over to the woman, kneeling down and trying to comfort the hurt woman. Shuldig watched as the woman smiled at her as best she could and hugged the child.

He looked up as the front door opened and footsteps echoed down the hall. The woman quickly pushed the child away and under the table, where the tablecloth hung nearly down to the floor. This did not look good. Shuldig was now kneeling under the table with the child, who was laying down watching her mother.

The man returned and stood over the battered woman. Shuldig could just make out the sharp edge of an ax meant for chopping wood. The next thing he heard was the sound of breaking flesh and bone and the small cry of the child before the sight of crimson blood flowed under the table and onto the child's hands.

Shuldig pulled out of the memory and placed it in its rightful place. That was one memory that needed to be kept locked away. He searched through some of the memories, picking up anything that could tell him about her before pulling completely out of her mind, leaving everything as though he was never there. He then picked up his drink and downed the rest.

"What did you find?" Farfarello asked.

Shuldig smirked. "I think you'll like her. Her name is Megan, but no one has called her that since she was a child. They refer to her as Dimonia, seeing as how she's the hardest person to get close to and diamonds are the hardest mineral in the world. Pretty clever."

Farfarello turned his gaze to Shuldig now. "What would interest me so about her?"

Shuldig smirked. "She's about your age. She'll be turning nineteen soon, three weeks I believe, and you wont believe this." Shuldig looked at Farfarello with a smirk. "She doesn't believe in God. She doesn't believe he even exists, and she loves to cause people pain. She even cuts her own arms to feel what the people she hurt feel."

Farfarello had to stare a bit. Didn't believe in God? Now that interested him. More than anything he loved to make God cry, and another person turning their back on God made God hurt. She even cut her own body to cause herself pain. Pain was one thing he could never feel, but cutting her own body gave her the pleasure he couldn't have. That hurt God, and God's pain made Farfarello happy.

He looked back at the woman, watching her as she danced to the beat of the music. His gaze locked with hers as she opened her blood red eyes and looked at him. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he knew what he wanted. He wanted her. Somehow or another, he wanted her.

"Come on, Farfarello. Crawford will bitch if we stay out too late," Shuldig said as he stood. Crawford wouldn't have cared less any other day, but they had a meeting to attend the next afternoon. Nagi would be dragging them out of bed at seven in the morning.

Farfarello looked at Shuldig and then back at the woman. Shuldig sighed slightly. "We'll dig up more information on her tomorrow after the meeting. I have her address already, and you can see her tomorrow. Besides, she works tomorrow, and we can stay longer then."

Farfarello nodded and stood, downing his own drink. He followed Shuldig out of the club, anxious to meet the woman they called Dimonia. Tomorrow, he'd know more about her and probably find out what this sudden urge was. Tomorrow was definitely going to be an interesting night.

Ok, that was chapter one. I hope yall liked it! If you did, let me know in a review! There's more to come, but it'll be a bit slow. I'm still working on Hidden Scars, but I'll be faster on this one when part two of Hidden Scars in complete. Anyway, review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Hm, well I guess this one's not so bad after all. Cool. Well there will definitely be more characters that they'll meet along the story. I think you'll like them and probably find them a tad interesting. This chapter will show the next character. Can you guess whose eye she'll catch? I'll give you a hint. She's outgoing, wild, and hangs out with Dimonia a lot. Don't know? Then read and find out!

Chapter 2

The meeting with their new boss was boring as hell. One more minute in there and they were sure they'd rip their hair out. Crawford had given them the rest of the day to themselves, giving Shuldig and Farfarello to dig up more information on Dimonia. Currently, they were at a dinner in town with Nagi, having dragged the poor boy with them. Though they were good at their jobs and digging up information, Nagi was better at it.

"Why are you so interested in finding things out about this woman?" Nagi asked, his fingers sweeping over the keys of the laptop like it was nothing.

"Well, Farf here has an interest in her for some reason. I told him we would dig up information on her for him. All we know right now was what I got from her, but that doesn't help us too much," Shuldig replied as he stared out the window.

Farfarello sat watching the people around the dinner. Waitresses stood taking orders from tables, wearing roller skates and bright pink outfits that would hurt anyone's eyes. How they could stand it he had no idea.

"Is this going to be his next target?" Nagi asked, never looking up from the screen.

"No, actually he doesn't plan to kill her. Don't ask me why. It baffles me about as much as it does you," Shuldig said as he looked at his younger teammate.

"Hello. Welcome to Nice N' Easy Dinner." All three of them looked at the waitress in front of the table.

She stood wearing the roller skates and the outfit that didn't quite suit her. She wore a smile that basically said 'I'm only doing this cause I have to'. Her hair was the darkest blue and while her eyes were the exact opposite, being a very light and bright blue. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, with a few strands hanging down here and there. She was different than any other waitress in the dinner, how they didn't know. Shuldig looked her up and down, not really sure what to make of her.

"My name is Saphria, and I'll be your waitress today," she said as she pulled out a pen and a pad of paper. "What can I get you three to drink?"

"Coffee, with cream," Shuldig replied.

"Coffee, black," Farfarello said, going back to looking around.

"Nothing," Nagi replied, going back to typing on his laptop. He didn't plan on staying. Just finding the information Shuldig needed and then heading back for the house.

"Alright. I'll be back with your drinks," Saphria said as she wrote the orders down and handed out three menus. She then disappeared behind the counter.

"Well, she seems cheerful," Shuldig said, noticing the way she looked more annoyed than anything.

Nagi ignored Shuldig's comment and continued to type. He wanted to find the information as soon as possible so Shuldig wouldn't bother him again. His search lead him to a database that seemed to have what he needed. It looked like it not only had information on Dimonia, but on Saphria and two other people as well, one by the name of Opala and the other by the name of Emeralda. He clicked on the icon, and the screen went black. Nagi frowned. "Odd."

"What is?" Shuldig asked, looking at the black screen.

"This file seems to be locked. All of Dimonia's information is there," Nagi replied.

"Locked? I see. Interesting. Why would anyone need their information locked away?" Shuldig asked more to himself than anyone else. It was then that he felt it. A particular mind that was organized and neat. Shuldig smirked. "Looks who's walking in."

Farfarello and Nagi looked at him before turning towards the door as the bell above it rang. In walked Dimonia, dressed in black leather pants and a long sleeved shirt that cut off about two inches below her chest and had a single button in the middle of her chest that held the shirt closed. A spiked collar was around her neck, with a silver dagger charm hanging down.

"I'm guessing that's who you're looking for?" Nagi asked as he watched her make her way over to the front stools.

"That would be Dimonia," Shuldig replied. Farfarello watched her carefully.

Saphria looked up to see Dimonia and grinned, walking over to her. "I know, I know. Black coffee. I'll be able to leave soon," she said as she handed Dimonia a mug and filled it with coffee. Saphria then grabbed a tray and walked over to the guys' table, passing out the drinks. "There you go. Are you ready to order yet?"

"Not quite. We'll need a few more minutes," Shuldig replied, pouring a few of the small containers of cream into his coffee.

"Alright then," Saphria replied before walking off to another table. Farfarello drank a bit of the black liquid, keeping his eye on Dimonia. He paused when he noticed someone else keeping an eye on her. A man watched Dimonia as she drank her own coffee, standing instead of sitting on one of the stools. The man smirked and stood, making his way over to her. Farfarello's eye narrowed as he watched him put his arm over her shoulders and talked to her.

"Well, seems someone else has taken an interest in our little mystery woman," Shuldig said as he watched the man continue to try and sweet talk Dimonia.

Dimonia merely drank her coffee, ignoring the man. The man seemed quite upset at being ignored and continued to try starting a conversation. Farfarello kept his golden eye fixed on the man. If looks could kill, he'd be dead and six feet under without Farf even batting an eyelash.

The man was persistent as he continued to talk, becoming more annoyed by the second at talking to a brick wall. He became more daring, however, when the hand on Dimonia's shoulder started to slide down her back. The moment it reached too low, all anyone could see was a blur. Dimonia set her mug down and stood in one fluid motion, picking up the stool she sat on. She then turned around completely, slamming the metal stool upon the man's back, and sending him crashing to the ground.

Farfarello, Shuldig, and even Nagi all blinked at her in surprise. That was totally unexpected. Dimonia calmly set the stool back down and kicked the groaning man away from her, going back to drinking her afternoon coffee as though nothing had happened.

Saphria was currently on the ground howling with laughter. Her laugh though was something Shuldig picked up on. It was a nasal type of laugh, much like his own, suggesting a German heritage. Shuldig smirked a bit and leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes. He let his mind wander until it found her mind, trying to penetrate it without her knowing. That, however, proved difficult.

When he slipped into her mind, he found it completely disorganized, unlike Dimonia's, yet everything seemed to be where it needed to be. Bad memories locked away in the back of her mind while recent ones were piled in the front to remember better.

He was able to find that she lived with Dimonia along with two other people before he was completely shut off. He winced as he was forcefully shoved out of her mind and a set of defensive walls went up.

Shuldig opened his eyes in confusion and looked back at the blue haired woman. She was back to taking orders again and didn't seem as though she was too worried about someone slipping into her mind. Or did she even know? This was very interesting indeed.

Nagi himself was having trouble. The lock on the database was strong and would take some type to get by, presenting a good challenge for the young Schwartz member. He gently closed the computer and stood wordlessly. He needed time and concentration to get past this defense. He walked out of the diner, heading back for the house. This was a challenge he was willing to accept. He was going to break down the defense around the database and learn its secrets that someone was so eager to keep quiet.

Ok, that's chapter 2! Whew, that took a while. I had a small writer's block, but I got past it! Hope you like this chapter! Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Well, at least some people like this story. That's cool. Anyway, school is slowly coming to and end and will give me much more time to write my stories. Yay! Anyway, I'd like to thank my reviewer!

BlackJaeger7676- Lol, well he doesn't have one yet but it'll get there. I promise!

Ok, now to give yall the next chapter!

Chapter 3

As Nagi returned home, he grabbed an apple from the kitchen before heading to his room. Crawford was at the office, so he had the whole place to himself. Good, that meant fewer distractions. Once in the confines of his room, he set his laptop on his desk and hooked it up. He was going to break down that defense system, even if it took him a week to do it. Taking a bite out of his apple, he loaded up his computer and started to type.

The defense system was strong, created by a very intelligent person, one who took every possible infiltration and opening and blocked it off. The only way to get through it would be to slowly get through each defense at the point where it is the weakest. But that would take quite a while if done correctly. After each defense is penetrated, it would leave a trail for someone to follow. So the area not only had to be weak, but also very small, else he'd be easily caught.

Nagi smirked. Finally, someone was actually giving him a challenge. This would take time, patience, and concentration. He had the last two, but time was another matter, seeing as how Shuldig and Farfarello wanted this information as soon as possible. But they would have to wait. He was going to have a bit of fun getting through this first.

A few hours later found Nagi still typing away at his computer, slowly breaking down the first defense. It had taken this long for him to just get through maybe half of it. But that didn't mean he was giving up. He had found a small area of the defense system that was weak, a common mistake with even the most brilliant person. Now the only task was using it to his advantage.

"Hey, Nagi." Nagi didn't even have to look to see it was the German man standing in his doorway. "Crawford says it's time to eat. Are you still working on that?"

"Yes, I am. This isn't any ordinary defense system, Shuldig. This type of system is something we'd use to keep people out of our database. If I want to get into it, I have to take my time and do it right else the defense system becomes stronger because the person knows where a weak point is," Nagi replied, his fingers never once pausing over the keyboard.

Shuldig frowned slightly before walking over to Nagi to look over his shoulder. "Why would someone need such a high security system around a database? Makes you wonder what they're hiding."

"We'll find out when I'm finished," Nagi said, his eyes glued to the screen and his fingers dancing over the keys.

The next few weeks Nagi spent much of his free time slowly getting through the defense system, trying to make it through to get the information he wanted while at the same time trying his best not to slip up. One mistake could cause him to alert the creator. This would take a lot more time and concentration than he thought.

Crawford sighed as he listened to his new boss talk about what his business was going to do to cheat people out of their money to make a profit. It was giving him a complete headache. His voice was annoying and even more annoying was how he kept asking Crawford what he thought. Crawford mostly just nodded his head a bit with a "sounds good" or "that's a good idea."

There was one thing that interested him a bit. With all of these business meetings, he basically knew all of the people that normally attended. This meeting, however, there was one extra person, a woman who he had yet to learn the name of. She had hazel eyes behind her reading glasses as she looked over the reports handed out to them. Her hair was a pale white color that was mostly pulled back in a high, messy bun with a single strand in the front to hang in her eyes.

She held a very business like personality. Crawford could tell from just looking at the way she sat in her chair, leaned back a bit with her legs crossed and her skirt nice and smooth. She held her pen within her hands, twirling it a bit while watching their boss brag on and on.

Even so, Crawford had no idea what she was like or who she was. He didn't know anything about her, and that bothered him. Usually he knew almost everything about the people he was dealing with, but this person he knew nothing.

"What do you say, Crawford?" Crawford pushed his thoughts aside and looked up at his boss. "What do you think of the plans for this company?"

"I think the ideas will help a lot to increase this company's profits." Perfect. Now he can be left alone for a while longer.

"Like hell they will." All eyes turned to the woman as she sat up from leaning back on her seat, tossing the pen onto the table. She then picked up the report, holding it up. "You know what I think about these plans?" She turned and tossed them into the trashcan. "Garbage. Complete and total garbage."

"I'm guessing you have another idea, Opala?" the boss asked as he looked at the white haired woman.

"Yeah. Why not make more productive products instead of cheating people out of their money," Opala replied as she sat back in her seat again. "Doing shit like this will only get this company into trouble. If you want to make money try improving the things you already have."

"Trying to find ways in which to improve our products will only cost more than what we'll make off them," Crawford replied.

"Well, it seems we have a disagreement," the boss said as he took his seat to watch this event play out. Everyone else sat back and stayed quiet, watching both of them intently. It was sort of like when someone starts a fight, everyone around them quiets down and watches, betting in their minds on which one would win.

"No, it won't. Unless the products this company sells already suck to the point where if improved they'd still suck ass. This company is going to shit because of these stupid plans that keep going into play," Opala replied, her hazel eyes locked onto his.

"According to the law of supply and demand, if the quality of the products increases, the price will increase, but if the price increases, the demand will decrease. We can't raise the prices and expect people to still buy the products," Crawford said as he watched her carefully.

Opala leaned forward on her elbows on the table, removing her glasses. "They will if you find an equilibrium, the point where you can have great products for good prices without loosing too many buyers. If we can accomplish that, then this company can make an excellent profit."

"But you also have to consider how much it would cost this company. Not just on making the products but finding out how to improve them to a point in which they would work more effectively," Crawford said. This was beginning to be a bit of an annoyance. Normally people here just agreed with the plan and left, but this Opala woman was different. Instead of following the unwritten rules, she argued about it.

"Well then, dump the products and find new ones. If they're that bad then this company shouldn't be selling them? Am I right, Mr. Crawford?" Opala said, a small smirk tugging at her lips.

Crawford glared at her. He was at a loss for words, but more importantly, he was furious. Someone had the upper hand, laid a trap that he fell right into. Usually, his ability warned him ahead of time about things like this, but not this time. He was unprepared and unaware. And that pissed him off.

"Well then." Everyone but Crawford and Opala looked towards the boss. "I think this concludes this meeting for today. I will see you all at the next meeting."

At that point, everyone quietly picked up their things and filed out of the room. Crawford headed down the hallway, still quite furious.

"Mr. Crawford." He paused at the sound of his name and turned to see Opala coming towards him in her business jacket and skirt. It didn't suite her but at the same time it did.

"I'm sorry if I seemed a bit rude or anything but this company is going to hell," Opala said as she walked up to him, putting her glasses back on.

"As if that wasn't already obvious," Crawford replied, trying his best to keep his voice cool.

"Look, it is nothing against you but I was hired to help this company and that's what I plan to do. If you get in my way, you will be walked all over. I hope that we can become co-workers and not enemies. Have a good afternoon, Mr. Crawford." With that, she walked down the hallway, never once looking back. Crawford glared after her a bit before heading home. This was not a good day

Ok, that's chapter 3. In the next chapter you'll get to meet the fourth member, Emeralda. But you gotta review!


	4. Chapter 4

Wow, been a little while since I've updated, but that's what I get for going to college, ne? Hehe! Anyway, I can't wait it get more of this story up! I hope you all like it!

BlackJaeger7676- Lol! Yeah, it was pretty funny seeing Crawford get beat by a woman huh? Don't worry, there will be plenty more where that came from!

Now, onto the chapter!

1Chapter 4

Shuldig yawned as he drove down the busy streets with Farfarello in the passenger seat. Crawford had called them earlier this morning saying the new boss wanted a meeting asap. He wasn't sure of the details on why exactly the meeting was called, but they'd soon find out.

"So, you gone to see Dimonia yet or have you just been watching her at the club?" Shuldig asked as he came to a stop light, watching as the people crossed the busy street. Pathetic how loud their voices were in his head, complaining about some of the most ridiculous things.

"Crawford forbid me from approaching her without the information Nagi is trying to retrieve," Farfarello replied, looking bordly out the window. Once Crawford had found out about Farfarello's new interest, he wanted to make absolutely sure about what they were dealing with before he let Farfarello do as he pleased. He was a bit uneasy about him going after a woman who obviously was hiding something if all her information was locked away.

"Once Nagi gets through that defense system and gets that information, you'll be free to do as you wish with her. I think he's about as interested as I am on why you'd rather watch the woman instead of killing her," Shuldig replied, continuing on down the street once the traffic light finally turned green. Farfarello wasn't the only one watching someone.

That blue haired girl Saphria was under Shuldig's close eye. He'd often be seen in the diner she worked in on his days off. However, he was in the same boat as his team mate, having been forbidden from approaching her seeing as how her information as well was under lock and key. Not only that, each time he tried to slip into her mind, he was roughly forced out, though she never showed any sign of having noticed a thing. He couldn't tell if it was her doing or someone else's.

And it wasn't only those two members of Schwartz that wanted the information. Crawford wanted to know all he could about Opala, the woman who defied the unwritten rules of their boss's business. She had power and knew how to use it to get what she wanted. Crawford was the same way, making them quite the rivals. However, Crawford was at a slight disadvantage, having known nothing about her in the first place.

The information Nagi was attempting to retrieve was vital to the members of Schwartz. Each one needing different piece of it for their own use. However, it had been nearly a month and a half since he had started on slipping through the defenses and still was only barely on the third lock. This proved to be a challenge for the youngest member on Schwartz, a challenge he was more than willing to take. Missions that were given to them proved to do nothing to entertain the young boy. It wasn't very often that he came across such a tightly sealed database that equaled his talent. Nagi was doing his job while at the same time having fun.

The only person they had not met nor seen so far was a person named Emeralda. Her name appeared on the database info, but they had seen nothing of her. Even when Saphria talked to Dimonia about what to do at home, her name was never mentioned. That had to make them wonder. Why would Emeralda's data be stored with theirs if they hadn't even heard of her? Something wasn't right at all, and they were going to find out what.

When Shuldig pulled up to the large office building, Crawford was already out front waiting for them. He didn't seem the least bit pleased on having to meet with the boss out of the blue.

"Where's the kid?" Shuldig asked as he and Farfarello walked up to him.

"Nagi's already inside. Just don't expect him to be paying much attention," Crawford replied, leading his teammates inside.

"How far has he gotten?" Shuldig asked, wanting to know how much longer it would take before him and Farfarello could approach the two women.

"Almost finished with the third lock. But there are still a few more."

As expected, Nagi was sitting within the office, labtop in his lap and fingers dancing across the keyboard. He never missed a beat as he continued with his mission to unlock the highly concealed database.

At the moment, their employer was sitting in his office chair, watching the news of yet another jewel robbery.

"Police say that yet another rare and valuable piece of jewelry was stolen late last night. This time, a white diamond was left in its place. Reports state that just after the robbery, the jewel's owner was killed, having been stabbed to death. When asked, the detectives stated that these jewel thieves only go after the rarest and most valuable jewels."

The Jewel Thieves. They had been around for several years, but only just recently started to kill the owners of the jewels. Even better, each time a different gem was left in the jewel's place. When the first valuable jewels started to go missing, the thieves were given the name Jewel Thieves. Simple, but it allowed the police to identify to the public on who was responsible for the disappearance of the rare jewels. When they first appeared, there were actually four types of gems: diamonds, sapphires, opals, and emeralds. They had never killed and only went for pieces that had some type of taste to them. Now, only three of them remained, and they stole any jewels that had high value, tasteful or not.

Their employer shut off the television and turned to his body guards. All fun and games were to be set aside. "I have called you here for a reason, and that reason is that I would like to discuss with you about these Jewel Thieves," he said, standing up with a folder in his hands. "These thieves have been stealing all over this city, presenting a high threat to those who have rare and valuable jewels in their possessions." As he spoke he gave the folder to Crawford. "Inside you'll find photos of each of the four types of gems left behind when the thieves first started out. However, with the three remained ones you'll find photos of the killings at which the gems were left with."

Crawford opened the folder and looked at the photos given to them. Inside held the four photos of the small gems left with the killings. But with them came other photos, photos of each of the dead owner's bodies and what wounds were inflicted. Some were horrific and mutilated, but some were just a simple and quick kill. But each gem seemed to be with a different weapon.

"The police had somehow learned of their names in past cases, before they killed. Diamante seems more for killing with knives and sharp objects. She must know something of the human body as she normally hits main arteries to allow the person to bleed to death. Zaffiro is more for strangulation. We think that her weapon may be a whip considering that fact that there were many whip marks and welts along the person's body. Opal is the one we can't decide upon. Her weapon is unidentifiable. It leaves a jagged cut, almost like it was torn, that starts out shallow before going deeper and then shallower again. What it is we have no idea," their employer explained as he sat back down in his comfortable office chair. "And as you can see, Smeraldo has disappeared. Where she may be no one knows. Dead, maybe even in hiding."

"You keep referring each one to 'she,' but how do you know if they are even female?" Shuldig asked, looking over Crawford's shoulder at the pictures. He was slightly disgusted with some of them, especially with the ones Diamante killed.

"I have a video tape here of one of the robberies," he replied, holding up a tape. He then pushed it into the near by VCR and turned the television back on. The guys watched the screen as the tape showed the inside of the museum building. As they watched, a dark figure came into view of the camera. The person was slender and had obvious curves, but what gave the fact that it was a woman was what happened next. The figure had used a powder of some sort to show where the red lasers were located, before starting to move through them. Her movements were slow and required her to move in ways that a man's body wouldn't allow: legs in near splits, body arching in several directions, and even the use of standing on her toes. It was defiantly a woman.

"Damn. That would hurt," Shuldig said as they watched the woman remove the necklace from its casing before slipping back out through the lasers once more.

"This is all very fascinating sir, but what does this have to do with us?" Crawford asked, wanting to know why they were given this information. Was it just to discuss it or were they going to kill them?

"It has to do with you by means of this," their employer replied as he pulled out a flat velvet box and opened it. Inside laid a beautiful necklace. An opal was set at the bottom with small diamonds set around it. From there, gems of emeralds and sapphires flowed up the necklace set in silver looking to be a river of gems. A matching earring was set of either side of the beautiful necklace completing the jewelry set. "This is a gift to my wife. I am to transport it tomorrow night to my home for safe keeping; however, I need your help in keeping it safe. I'd rather not have to lose this to those damn Jewel Thieves."

"I see. We can help you to transport it safely; however, please leave the Jewel Thieves to us. We don't want any police or anything following us while on our way to your home. Are we in agreement?" Crawford asked, as he set aside the folder to face their employer.

"Yes, yes. Do as you wish with them," he replied, waving the matter away with his hand. He couldn't care less what happened to those thieves so long as they were taken care of. "Just make sure this is safe. For now, there is a party going on that I must attend and I would like it if you would come along as well. The necklace will be stored within the building in a safe. I will have the details of its security brought over to you as soon as possible."

"Understood sir," Crawford replied. He had a feeling that their meeting with the Jewel Thieves would prove to be quite an interesting trip.

'We'll see just what makes these women tick,' Crawford thought on their way home.

Whew, that took a few days to type up. I had some time between a couple of my classes to type it up. Anyway, I'm going to an anime con! Yay! If any of you are heading to the AWA in Atlanta, watch out for me and my friend. We'll be dressed as Shuldig and Farfarello. Hehe! Anyway, review!


	5. Chapter 5

Holly crap! 114 hits? I feel so loved! I just wish I had more reveiws. Oh well. Anyway, here's the next chapter to Protection!

Chapter 5

The moon was full and the stars bright, but neither could be seen within the brightly lit city below. Cars came from every direction, bringing to the building the richest and most powerful people in Japan, all to attend the formal gathering. The men of Schwartz stood around the magnificent room filled with both men and women who wore expensive dresses and suits that looked more like something suited for the 18th century and butlers. Schwartz preferred the regular three piece white suits and that was basically it. Something they could wear comfortably and still look good in. Not to mention be able to fight in if the situation so required it.

Currently, nothing had happened so far. They were there to keep an eye on their employer and get to the necklace if anyone were to enter the safe room. The information given to them explained all about the safe in which it was stored in. To get to the safe you had to press a certain combination of floor numbers on the elevator buttons. There, the elevator would take you to the deepest part of the building where the necklace was stored.

Once off the elevator, there were only two steps before a series of infer red sensors beamed across the hall. Included with that were the tiles. You could only step on the white tiles, while the black tiles would trigger alarms. If anyone were to get through that, they then had to get the necklace. Locked within a crystal glass case, the necklace was surrounded by yet another set of infer red beams. Should any alarm be tripped, the vault would bolt shut and the room filled with toxic gas while Schwartz's pagers went off. It would be impossible for any normal thief to attempt, but these weren't any normal thieves.

The whole safe was completely secured. But before the party began, Crawford had a vision while in his study. He knew that all of those security devices would be nothing to the thieves and devised a plan, one that would show them just how skilled these women really were and allow them to observe their style, all without risking their assignment.

They, however, had yet to show up, even though Crawford's predictions insisted they would arrive. Their employer was uneasy about the plan, but went along with it anyway. He would do anything to make sure that his valuables were safe and sound, and that his life was also intact. Crawford stood by him to make sure no one tried anything funny. Nagi remained home, wanting to get through as much of the database security as he could. Shuldig remained on the outside of the crowd, watching from afar. Farfarello preferred to watch outside the building. There was no way they could miss them.

"Ah, Tokishino!" Crawford looked up as a man looking to be from an Italian background approached their employer. Following just behind him was a young woman, no older than Nagi. Her hair was a deep green, near black, color while her eyes were the opposite, the brightest green Crawford had ever seen. He would've thought her to be a very nice young girl, had her expression not thrown that idea out the window. Cold, emotionless, and lifeless, and yet her eyes still shinned with something. Hope? Crawford couldn't tell. Her dress was a pure white that didn't seem very much like her color, nor her style, long, down to her ankle with long sleeves that clung to her arms, covering every inch of her body from view. Gold hung from both her ears and her neck, tacky and distasteful jewelry. This was nothing a normal teenage girl would wear. She followed close behind the man who approached Tokishino with open arms.

"Domenico, so good to see you again my old friend," Tokishino greeted as he hugged the Italian man.

The man couldn't have been any older than 35 or 40, long dark hair pulled back into a loose hair tie with a few strands of hair falling out here and there. His dark eyes were cold and heartless, though his face showed signs of a mask of kindness. This man looked friendly, but it was easy to tell that he was nowhere near friendly.

"You too, old friend. I'd like you to meet my daughter, Emeralda," the man known as Domenico said, gently bringing the young woman forward. So this was Emeralda, the mysterious girl who none of them had even seen. Suddenly this just got a bit more interesting.

Shuldig. It seems we may have found our missing woman. 

Shuldig looked towards Crawford, picking up on his telepathic message. Looking towards him he saw the woman shaking hands with Tokishino. So that's Emeralda? Well, at least now we know she actually exists and is alive. 

True. I want you to take a look inside her mind. Find out what you can about her. 

Will do. Shuldig replied as he sipped his drink. He let his mind wonder once more, searching for Emeralda's mind. Slowly he parted the crowd of minds, removing the unknown ones until he could pick out the one he was searching for. A set of walls remained closed around her mind, but those walls willingly crumbled once they felt his presence, almost like she wanted someone, anyone, to know something. If that was what she wanted, might as well give her that at least. He slowly slipped into her mind being careful not to disturb anything. Her mind was mostly dark, having blocked out most of her emotions and memories for some reason. There was only one part of her that remained lit, though most of it was being limited by something, whether it was memory loss or something else that prevented her from giving him all the information she could.

Walls, solid cold walls that let no light in. A single door with no window. Computers, several computers linked to one another in endless wires. Numbers, letters, codes. Emotions of fear and loneliness. The feeling of hope. And a child, no more than two years old. All of these things rushed towards Shuldig, and he quickly tried to make sense of it all, taking all the pieces and putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle. This is normally what happened every once in a while when he came across some of the more complicated minds. He concentrated hard on putting the pieces together, trying to decipher what it was she wanted him to know. After what seemed like quite a while, he finally was able to put all the information that he could gather together.

Seems our Mr. Domenico isn't who he says he is. 

Crawford glanced towards Shuldig, having heard his voice inside his head. What did you find? 

I couldn't find too much. Something's blocking me from some of the more vital pieces of information. What I can gather is that she was taken from a group of people very dear to her. She's being held in was seems like a cell that has a bunch of computers in which she is forced to operate. It's like an underground organization so to speak. She hacks into databases and creates security codes and such for Domenico. What for she couldn't tell me. But there is one other thing.

And what is that? 

Shuldig opened his eyes a bit to stare down at the sparkling liquid within the glass. A child. She's caring for a small child, no older than maybe two. She feels a great need to protect this child, a duty to someone. 

Crawford frowned at this. What is Domenico doing with a child? 

I'm not sure, but neither the child nor Emeralda are his kids. Both were kidnapped it seems. 

I see, Crawford replied, looking back at Tokishino and Domenico. I think this just got a little more interesting. 

Shuldig nodded before glancing up as he sensed something coming, or someone. And it's about to get even more interesting. She's here. 

Dark was the hallway that led through the safe. It was illuminated only by the dim lights above that kept the infer red beams from being seen. But this was no challenge for the dark figure that stood at the beginning of the hall, a sapphire held within the slim, gloved fingers.

The figure looked towards the necklace, a small smirk played across her lips as her shadowed eyes landed on the target ahead. "Hello my beauty. Time to come home."

Ok, so now we know a little bit of what happened to Emeralda, but why is she there? And who is this child she's taking care of? And even better, will the guys catch this Jewel Thief, or do they have something else planned for her? Read the next chapter and find out!


End file.
